Dexterity of touch
Fundamental Footwork Patterns
Individual Intuitive Game Intelligence
That is:
All of the above is pretty generic and can be done in open space (no cones required) and can be done in games. With very young players at TST we don't use cone work as it adds no value. They lack the maturity in terms of brain development to get the benefits out of cone work. The game (or game like games) is a better teacher at this point. Technical isolation is not necessary - other than some basic techniques (e.g : open the foot to pass etc) - so this is why the TST format is what it is in the youngest groups (up to about U8s and maybe U9s)
Good team coaches can do this well if they want to or know how to, so if a player already has one of these coaches, then they are one of the lucky few. However, team coaches (regardless of the age of the players they coach) often get to this stage of technical development and then stop looking to further develop footwork and technique. This is why most players (at all ages - even into adulthood) have a poor touch, poor footwork and lack confidence in 1v1 moments. It is why players would prefer to boot it than control it and look to play in a more technical way. Why they would prefer to release it(often as early as possible) than engage an opponent. As a result technical development for most players usually stops at the very very first developmental hurdle.
This however, is when TST really kicks in.
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Once players are mature enough to deal with technical isolation, we introduce what we call
Fundamental Footwork Patterns (FFPs).
FFPs make up the TST footwork development program and makes TST unique.
Continue reading to get more info on FFPs.
Fundamental Footwork Patterns
A player can only do a small number of things when on the ball. These are:
In the table below, you will find all the FFPs. [The FFPs highlighted in yellow would be the first patterns taught. They are 2 touch patterns - and naturally include the 1 touch patterns]: These are what we want all players (who are not natural technicians) to use as instinctive ball moving techniques, whether in a first touch moment, a 1v1 moment or preparing to release.
|
Drag Back Vs |
1 touch lateral |
2 touch lateral |
2 touch lateral Fwd |
Turns |
|
DB flick behind |
Inside push shuffle |
Dush Dush |
Inside Inside |
Drag turn |
|
Same foot V* |
Outside push shuffle |
Inside Outside (step/hop) [fake inside] |
Outside Inside |
Dush Dush |
|
Switch foot V* |
Inside chop shuffle |
Inside step Inside |
|
Inside Chop / Cruyff |
|
*using an inside or little toe |
Outside Chop shuffle |
Outside step Outside |
|
Outside Chop |
|
|
O-fake switch O-push |
|
|
Inside step Inside |
|
Maradona Spin |
Ronaldo Chop |
|
|
Outside step Outside |
The other things in the table above are as follows;
Introducing and developing FFPs
All these can be introduced in open space (no cones required) however beginners who cant do the FFPs will get bored very quickly if the footwork practice is too dry - hence why with young players and slightly older beginners we don't do cone work or much isolated footwork. [Also note though that cones add an extra level difficulty which young/beginner players will find very frustrating. This is discussed more below].
With very young player and [beginners] footwork needs to be developed predominately in games** ( The 'game' is a better teacher at this point than isolation, as long as players are not put under so much pressure that they cant practice footwork, and we try to play games that maximize the opportunity to get on the ball).
**Games doesn't mean actual games. It just means something with an fun objective. Think party games except with a ball. Stuck in mud tig except with a ball etc to get the idea.
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The second stage of the footwork process is :
It is at this point even most of the best team coaches stop developing basic footwork (and have also probably not covered the full range of FFPs or them in detail) and instead start to introduce 1v1 moves (scissors, elasticos, step overs etc) and think that this is the next stage of players technical development.
This might make sense to a team coach (as they read players need to comfortable in 1v1 moments) or because this is what the most creative players in the world do, so then this must be what the kids need to learn. Plus developing touch takes a long time, and team coaches might loose patience with the process long before there are any benefits to it. Yes the coach wants to develop players, but they also want to win games and time spent developing touch and technique that will not make much difference to the result at the weekend. And to be fair to coaches this should be their priority to a degree.
But this where TST differs to a team coach, and a team mentality. TST is not interested in the game at the weekend. We only care about the individual. TST does not sacrifice the development of 'touch' because of the need to prepare players for their next game. We also don't look to emulate the over elaborate players (Neymar, Ronaldino) as this is not the pathway to true technical excellence. Iniesta and Messi are our inspiration, and you wont see them do anything unnecessary.
And one final note, 1v1 ones are won in the head, and not by doing a 'move'.
TST is only interested in the quality of a players TOUCH when using FFPs, regardless of whether they are doing cone work, playing a tech game or playing a small sided game (2v2, 3v3), and only when playing games do we then also look at the decision making processes at an individual level and hope that the choice of the appropriate footwork pattern (the footwork patterns we teach are all players need) is slowly becoming a natural (subconscious) way of moving the ball. That is : The footwork does not interfere with but enhances the decision making processes, and problems are solved with the brain first and footwork is just an instinctive tool in the process.
TST provides players with a level of practice opportunity, repetition and feedback (the fundamental ingredients to development) in regards to their touch, during the execution of FFPs, that a team coach could not possibly do. This is where TST adds massive value to a players long term technical development
The next Stage of the TST technical development program is built round the development of Fundamental FOOTWORK patterns using Cones.
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What does footwork using cones achieve?
The uneducated view of cones is that the coach lines up a row of cones and tells the players to dribble through them. There is almost zero teaching or learning in this. Other coaches recognize this and so conclude that cones are therefore useless as development tool. As a result cone work has become a dirty word when developing players. But these thoughts have been generated from team training environments by individuals who couldn't possibly have looked into it themselves to get sufficient level to understanding of the pro and cons (although they think they have).
It's akin to a person dismissing the bible without ever reading it. If you are going to have a go a something, it would make sense that you understood the subject better than those you are dismissing.
In any event, TST is not a team training environment. TST uses cone work in a way that is beyond most players and coaches comprehension and has been developed over a 10 year period, slowly being researched and refined.
There is so much that cone work can achieve, and so much that players can get from cone work that they will not get by just playing and learning through their own trial and error and the little bit of individual guidance they get at team-training.
TOUCH
Firstly lets consider touch. As stated above, most coaches and players see technical development as the development of a movement patterns and so will teach a back foot touch, a scissor, a maradona spin - all with aim of helping players get the movement pattern of a technique. Players think they have learned something, coaches think they have taught something and everyone believes that the introduction and slight development of a movement pattern is the way to becoming a better player. And it is a start no doubt.
'World renowned' academies are based on nothing more than this idea. If you learn this movement pattern on the ball ( this technique, this ball mastery exercise etc) then you will become a better player. If you can do this one, can you you do this other one? (even though it achieves exactly the same thing or is completely useless in a game).
This approach is fundamentally wrong and completely misses the point of what a good player needs. A good player does not need more and more movement patterns under their belts. This will do nothing but muddy the water. Almost all players (who put in the time) can do almost all techniques to some degree or another. All players can do a scissor, a step over, and an elastico (eventually). All players who have been coached well can control a ball, take back foot touch, move the ball out of their body with a little toe touch !!! So why aren't all players good players???
It is because after a certain point technical development is not about the movement pattern of a technique - it is about:
This is the real technical development of a good player. It is indisputable. Having a bunch of different ways to do the same thing adds almost zero value to a player. What is needed is the laying down of fundamental footwork patterns, which are all that is needed for any moment in the game, which are then tested under unceasingly difficult conditions which put a players 'touch' in all its forms, under increasing pressure.
This where cone work comes into the picture. As stated above coaches who hate cones will say 'you dont play against cones, or cones cant tackle you'. But they miss the point. Cones are not there to reflect the game. They are there for a number of other reasons :
As stated, the cones are not there to act as stationary players, but are there for lots of other reasons, and the benefits of using cones correctly is very difficult for most players to get elsewhere.
At the highest level the time and space constraints are similar in regards to touch - there is almost no margin for error. Touch has to be perfectly timed - and this takes years of constant exposure to environments that push TOUCH to its limits. [Players who practice useless ball mastery exercises or a million ways to do the same thing, do this to the detriment of highly efficient and effective game play, and are wasting huge amounts of development time in the process, even though may believe they are working hard].
So having said the above:
Stage 3 of the Footwork Development Model is:
At this stage it is worth making the point that these levels are not distinct levels with distinct borders.Players are almost certainly working in a number of different stages at a time (once their fundamentals are in place).
Stage 4 of the Footwork Development Model is:
Stage 5 of the Footwork Development Model is:
So stage 6 of the footwork development Model
Throughout all of these stages - the appropriate application (game intelligence) of the FFPs and more advanced skills are given the chance to develop by playing technical games designed to enhance the game functional development and application of FFPs. Level 7 therefore kicks in as early as possible.
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Stage 7 ; That's when learning about the real game really starts.
Once a player is at this stage, learning about the real game kicks in. The game is ultimately a decision making exercise and an exercise in manipulating time and space to improve the position of the ball. Only players which a strong technical base can play the game 'in an advanced way', and their ability to play the game at a professional level is only limited by other attributes (physicality, mental strength, intelligence).
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